The Pigtail Theory
by slytherin-nette
Summary: Because boys will be boys and Draco Lucius Malfoy really did just have a rather odd way of showing Harriet Jamie Potter his affection...And that he really liked her hair. DM/femHP. AU Hogwarts. Oneshot.


**Title: The Pigtail Theory**

**Author: **slytherin-nette

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters you recognize from the HP books in this story. All I own is the plot. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling.

**Full Summary:** Because boys will be boys and Draco Lucius Malfoy really did just have an odd way of showing Harriet Jamie Potter that he liked her hair. DM/femHP. AU . Oneshot.

**Pairings: **DM/femHP, Implied CD/femHP and OC/femHP.

**Note: **Harry is **BORN **a girl in this story. Semi-AU universe. Ignores Voldemort.

**A/N:** Hey everyone! This is just a little plot bunny that popped into my head one day and I just wanted to write it and share it with you guys. Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

**First Year - Potions Classroom**

"Shhh! Keep quiet you two, she might hear you!"

Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle were desperately trying to hold in their sniggers as they watched Draco Malfoy carefully reaching out from where he sat directly Harriet Jamie Potter – all three Slytherins sneering wider as Draco managed to get hold of one of Harriet's pigtails in his hand.

Then, holding a finger to his lips to indicate for Crabbe and Goyle to keep quiet, Draco had to hold back his own laugh as he carefully positioned her long hair to fall into his potion cauldron.

Then, his lips twitching, Draco held up a hand and slowly began to back away from his cauldron, indicating for Crabbe and Goyle beside him to do the same as they waited for it to explode.

"Five…Four…Three…Two…"

Harriet's eyes narrowed at Draco's loud counting but she whirled around a second too late.

"Malfoy, _what—"_

"One—"

_**BOOOOOOM!**_

As soon as they had caught sight of Harriet's small frame and black hair covered entirely with Draco's green potion – which eventually began to stain onto her skin and make her shriek – Ron, Hermione, and the other Gryffindors rushed over to help her back up, much to Draco's amusement.

He and the other Slytherins finally burst out into loud, rambunctious laughter and fell all over themselves in their hilarity, the sight of which causing the Gryffindors to glare at them in anger.

"_YOU STUPID JERKS! WHY DON'T YOU JUST GROW UP?"_

At the sight of Harriet's angry glaring at him, Draco began to laugh harder.

* * *

**Second Year – Herbology Greenhouse**

Right in the middle of class in one of the Herbology Greenhouses, Harriet turned towards Ron and wrinkled her nose as she watched him tending to the Venus flytrap in front of them.

"How are you supposed to feed it? Won't it bite your finger off?" She asked him curiously but Ron just shrugged and gave her a pointed grin, indicating to the insect he had directly fed to it.

"I don't care, this thing's bloody wicked! Maybe I can convince Mum to let me have one at home." He mused to himself, earning a disgruntled look from Harriet as she rolled her eyes at him. "I think it's nothing but a dangerous menace, I wouldn't want something like that in the house." She told him but before Ron could answer her, they were both shushed irritably by Hermione beside them.

"Shhh! I'm trying to listen to Professor Sprout!"

Harriet and Ron both rolled their eyes at each other but turned back towards the lesson, both Gryffindors oblivious to the way Draco had nudged Goyle and was now smirking at Harriet's direction.

"Pssst! Hey Goyle…Watch this." Draco couldn't wipe the grin off his face as he slowly walked up behind Harriet, making sure he kept his movements slow and easy lest she notice him. Then, indicating sharply for his sniggering housemates to keep quiet, Draco reached up and yanked the protective hairnet wrapped around Harriet's neat pigtails, instantly causing the girl to whirl back around in shock and to level his self-satisfied, sneering expression with an angry, hateful glare.

"What's your problem _NOW, _Malfoy? Why can't you just leave me – _OW! ARGGGGH!"_

Draco instantly jumped back from her and smirked, noting that as Harriet had turned to face him – as he anticipated – the Venus flytrap on the table in front of her had snapped at her long hair and began to pull violently, causing the small Gryffindor to yelp in pain as her head was pulled back.

"_RON! HERMIONE! HELP ME, GET THIS THING OFF ME! MALFOY, YOU JERK!"_

Draco's smug smirk widened at her reaction and he watched, still sniggering along with the rest of the other watching Slytherins, as the Gryffindors panicked over how to free Harriet's long hair.

* * *

**Third Year – Hogwarts Library**

Draco watched with a scowl on his face as Harriet settled herself down onto one of the seats beside Ron in the library, his expression growing even darker as he watched her greet the redhead with a friendly smile. Ron returned her smile easily and they fell into an easy conversation, oblivious to the fact that Draco was watching them with narrowed gray eyes and a conspiratorial sneer.

_Stupid Potter…I'll show you for being cozy with Weasley!_

He watched and waited quietly until Ron had excused himself from her to get a book before he stood up and strode towards her, reaching into his bag with an evil grin. Then, just as he passed her, he extracted a small white box from his bag and leaned down to whisper something into her ear.

"Nice _hair, _Potter…Ever hear of a rat's nest? Or maybe in this case, a _SPIDER'S _web."

Her eyes instantly narrowing in both irritation and confusion, Harriet whirled around from her seat to glare at him but Draco had already walked off back to his seat, his trademark smirk still in place. Still unsure of what he had meant, she shrugged it off and waited for Ron to come back again.

As soon as he did, however, Harriet practically jumped out of her seat when Ron immediately gaped and jerked away from her, his eyes wide and panicked as he pointed to something on her hair.

"_S—SPIDER, HARRY! Y—YOU HAVE A SPIDER ON YOUR HAIR! S—SPIDER! SPIIIIIDEEEER!"_

Harriet's eyes widened and forgetting that they were in a library, she began to shriek along with him as well and began to bounce up and down in an effort to get the spider off.

"_BLOODY HELL! RON, GET IT OFF! GET IF OFF! GET IT OFF ME NOW!" _

"_I CAN'T, HARRY! I CAN'T! I'M BLOODY AFRAID OF –YAARGH! IT MOVED! EEEW! SPIIIIDEER!"_

"_ARRRRGH! GET IT OFF ME! GET IF OFF ME!"_

"_DETENTION, MISS POTTER! MISTER WEASLEY! NO SHOUTING IN THE LIBRARY!"_

At the sight of Madam Pince practically chasing the two Gryffindors out of the library, Draco allowed himself to lean back against the backrest of his seat and collapsed into a round of sniggers.

* * *

**Fourth Year – The Great Hall**

Draco's chin was resting on his palm as he glared angrily at Harriet Potter across the Great Hall that evening, watching in growing annoyance as she ran a hand through her long black hair. The Gryffindor had finally stopped wearing her hair up in pigtails that year and the long black tresses were now free to frame her face, finally earning the Gryffindor her share of stares and dates over the year.

Of course, Draco _still _found her absolutely detestable and he was currently thinking of yet another way to humiliate her – especially now when she no longer had her pigtails for him to yank on.

His eyes narrowing even further when he caught sight of none other than Cedric Diggory approaching Harriet from the Hufflepuff table. Draco scoffed and nudged Blaise and Crabbe beside him.

"Look at the little chit! She thinks she's so bloody pretty just because she's stopped wearing those annoying little pigtails and now she thinks she can go flirting with Diggory too? I mean, just _LOOK _at her! She's such a disgraceful little flirt!" Draco growled angrily, earning himself nothing but load groans from his two friends as they just rolled their eyes and went back to eating their dinner.

"Leave Potter alone, Draco…Otherwise quit bugging _US _about it." Came Crabbe's bored-sounding drawl. Beside him, Blaise nudged him sharply and whispered to him in an irritated voice. "What's Malfoy's problem, anyway? Does he have a thing for Harriet Potter or something?"

"I _HEARD_ that, Zabini. I do _NOT _have a thing for Potter. Don't be ridiculous!"

Draco felt another stab of ire at Blaise's words but he didn't bother sparing them a second glance. His attention was completely focused on Harriet across the table and on how she was annoying the hell out of him every time she flipped her hair and gave Diggory a light, easy smile.

Annoying Draco even more was the fact that Diggory seemed to be buying the stupid act and smiled back at Harriet, reaching over and tucking the girl's lock of hair behind her ear for her.

_The hell…? Is she really FLIRTING with that Hufflepuff? The nerve of that idiot!_

That did it.

Sneering maliciously, Draco finally narrowed his eyes, raised his wand and pointed it directly at Harriet Potter's smiling form across the Great Hall. With that, he set his wand back on the table and calmly resumed eating his dinner – only to smirk widely moments later when he heard Harry's well-predicted, and thoroughly satisfying angry shrieking of profanities intermingled with his name.

No doubt because her long, dark hair had now effectively been turned bright, Slytherin green.

_"MALFOY! YOU STUPID JERK!"_

_Ahhh. Much better._

Still smirking and expertly ducking the goblet of pumpkin juice Harriet had sent flying at him from way across the room, Draco couldn't help whistling to himself as he continued to eat his dinner.

* * *

**Fifth Year – Transfiguration Classroom**

_She wears her hair in a single ponytail now._

Draco mused to himself about that fact as he found himself staring at the back of Harriet Potter's head for the fifth time since their class had started that evening, his eyes unknowingly glazing over as they traveled from her hair to the skin of her nape, admiring the delectable patch of pale skin.

Fortunately, Harriet didn't seem to notice his staring and continued to listen to McGonagall's lecture in earnest, pausing every now and then to brush back a strand of hair that fell into her eyes. Draco took that opportunity to watch each and every single one of her movements, smirking to himself every now and then when he noticed how she would cautiously reach up and touch her ponytail in suspicion before turning to glare warningly at him, like she knew what he was thinking.

Draco just smirked back at her, raising a single, taunting eyebrow and waiting until she had turned back to the front of the class. Sometimes, he would just lean over and tug lightly at her ponytail just to get her to whirl around and glare at him, allowing him to see her beautiful green eyes.

Then, whenever she would mutter something at him and whirl back around, Draco always caught a blissful whiff of the scent of her hair and he would close his eyes, drawn in by that sweet scent. When he opened them, the scent would be gone and Draco would be staring intently at her again, already planning for the next way in which he could irritate her enough to look at him.

Sometimes, he would just be content to stare at her the entire time – admiring the way she bit her lip whenever she was deep in thought or how she liked to play with her ponytail whenever she was nervous. Sometimes, she would even sigh and look out the window, her eyes deep in thought.

And then, she would turn out and stare at him – to which Draco would always stare back.

* * *

**Sixth Year – Potions Corridor (Week before the Yule Ball)**

_She's wearing her hair down again._

Draco felt a stab of annoyance again as he watched her making her way down the corridor with Ron and Hermione, all three Gryffindors chattering excitedly about the upcoming Yule Ball. Weasley was practically beside himself in his excitement and his arm was wrapped around Granger as they walked, leaving Harriet obviously the odd one out in the trio as she walked slightly behind them.

_Tss. It's not like she needs them. She could get any guy she wanted now._

Draco scowled to himself in growing contempt, his eyes narrowing again when he noticed the horde of guys' heads that turned whenever Harriet walked past them in the corridor.

By now, Harriet Jamie Potter – or simply _Harry _as most people had nicknamed her – was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful girls in their year and Draco just _hated _her for that. He hated the fact that she was so damn beautiful that he couldn't get himself to hate her as much as he ought to. Or the fact that she was so damn beautiful that he found himself staring at her even more.

All the time really.

_Damn that Potter…I really hate her._

"Oh Drakie! I'm here, darling! Don't you have something important to ask me?"

As soon as Draco heard Pansy's high-pitched, saccharinely sweet voice, he grunted once and reluctantly tore his glare away from Harry across the corridor to level it on Pansy instead. Seeing the pug-faced girl smiling up at him, however, Draco just sneered disdainfully and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I do…" He gave her an irritated glare. "Don't you have somewhere else to be, Pansy?"

Pansy seemed to falter at his rude response and she blinked at him, clearly not understanding.

"Wh—what? What do you mean, Drakie—"

Draco cut her off rudely. "I _mean…_Get lost, Pansy. Go to a place far, far away. Preferably somewhere I'd never be." He snapped irritably, causing the Slytherin girl to tear up briefly before she let out a pathetic whimper and scurried back off towards the dungeons in a fit of heartbroken tears.

Unfeeling and simply un_caring _at this point, Draco just rolled his eyes to himself and straightened up from the wall he had been leaning on. His arrogant sneer in place, he ignored Crabbe and Goyle's disapproving looks at him at the way he had brushed off Pansy so callously and strode right over to where some of the Gryffindors had gathered, his eyes scourging through the crowd.

He found who he was looking for easily and as soon as he caught sight of the familiar mane of long, shiny black hair, he scowled, watching in contempt as a handsome seventh year Ravenclaw he only knew by the name of Adrian Palamore walked up to Harry and initiated a friendly conversation.

Draco continued to watch this little exchange silently for a couple more minutes, noting the way Harry was now running a hand through her long hair again and was smiling shyly up at Adrian as he talked. The rest of the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs – and even some of the Slytherins – were watching the scene, no doubt checking as to whether Harry would reject Palamore or not.

Then, just as Draco had predicted, Palamore finally stepped forward and asked Harry the question most of the other male population of Hogwarts had already asked but got rejected miserably.

"So…Er…Harriet…Would you like to go to the Yule Ball with me?"

Draco watched her reaction carefully, his fingers beginning to clench around his wand when he saw the genuine interest in her eyes and the way she was blushing at Adrian's handsome smile.

_Why that skanky little…_Draco clenched his jaw and yanked his wand out of his pocket.

Harry smiled at Adrian and tucked a long strand of hair behind her ear.

"O—oh…Adrian…Uhm…I…Er…That'd be great then, I think I'd love to—" Unfortunately, Harry never got to finish the rest of her sentence as Draco had raised his wand and pointed it directly at her hair – smirking as he muttered a hex and promptly turned her beautiful hair into a bright, neon orange.

Then, still smirking, Draco sniggered to himself and stepped back to admire his handiwork – feeling a surge of self-satisfaction when he saw that Harry seemed to be the only person who didn't realize her hair had turned into a bright orange and was still blushing as she looked up at Adrian.

Adrian, however, had lost the initial flirtatious smile on his face and now looked as though he was having trouble keeping a straight face as he looked at her, his gaze flicking back and forth to her face back to the horrible neon orange curls that Draco had hexed onto the top of her head.

Sadly enough, it seemed the other students around them watching the scene weren't as polite as Adrian was and began laughing out loud at Harry in amusement, finally drawing the Gryffindor's attention to the scene. At once, her eyes flashed and they riveted over to glare at Draco's smug expression before she turned and nervously inspected her reflection in one of the nearby classroom windows, her face immediately burning with humiliation when she realized what had happened.

Clenching her hands into fists and visibly shaking with anger, she whirled back around and glared at Draco once more from across the corridor, her entire form seething with fury as she met his arrogant smirk. Then, oblivious to Adrian's halfhearted apologies and the way he was trying to ask her to the Yule Ball again, Harry gave out one last angry shriek before she finally spun around and tore right out of the corridors, causing Draco's smirk to vanish instantly when he saw the tears in her eyes.

_Oh shit._

Belatedly realizing that he may have gone too far with his little stunt this time, Draco indicated to Crabbe and Goyle to hold Adrian back before he tore off after her, a pang of genuine guilt surprisingly plaguing his chest as he searched through the Hogwarts corridors for a sign of her. After several minutes of searching several empty classrooms, he finally found the Gryffindor in one of the empty classrooms by the dungeons, a pair of scissors in one hand and her wand in the other.

Her long black hair was back to normal now and she held a chunk of it as she was standing directly in front of one of the classroom mirrors, holding the scissors in her hand against the long tresses. She didn't seem to notice Draco's presence right away but even before she could blink, Draco couldn't stop himself from reacting instinctively, paling and snatching the scissors out of her hands.

"Potter, _DON'T!"_

Jumping at the sound of his voice and whirling around in surprise to meet his panicked expression, her shocked features quickly turned to a scowl of contempt and she glared at him, shoving him away from her in disgust. "Just…Get _AWAY _from me, Malfoy! Haven't you made my life a living hell enough as it is? I'm finally doing what you want now, I'm chopping my hair right off! Are you happy now? You've been using it to hurt and humiliate me all these years!" She yelled at him, trying to yank the scissors from his hands again but Draco held them away and shook his head.

"I said _DON'T, _Potter. Don't cut your hair! Just…leave it like that. Please." He ignored the utterly bewildered look she gave him and reached out to carefully pull the long black tresses back down to frame her face, his eyes visibly softening as he admired the dark strands against her features.

Harry was trembling in confusion as she watched him, noting the odd look in his eyes.

"M—Malfoy, I don't understand…Wh—what—"

Draco cut her off with a small, amused smile, shaking his head as he brought his hand down from where he was stroking her hair to cup her cheek. "I've always loved your hair, Potter…Long, dark and beautiful…It suits you perfectly…I've always thought so. Have you never noticed that?" He teased gently but at once, his words caused Harry's eyebrows to fuse together in annoyed exasperation.

"Noticed _what? _That you've spent the last six years pulling on my hair, turning it green or orange, or purple or whatnot, or feeding it to a plant? What should I have noticed, Malfoy? That you're a completely deranged bloke that likes to pick on girls and their hair for fun?" She demanded angrily, her voice raising several notches in her disbelief but at her reaction, Draco just laughed again.

"You asinine, ignorant little Gryffindor prick…Did you not learn _ANYTHING _about boys while you were growing up?" He drawled pointedly as he finally set the scissors down onto a nearby table and snaked his arms around her waist, surprising the Gryffindor when he pulled her against him and rested his forehead against hers. Harry blushed at his actions instantly and tried to pull herself away, her eyes growing as wide as saucers as she suddenly found herself pressed against Draco's lean frame.

"Wh-what about boys growing up? What are you on about _now, _Malfoy? What are you trying to pull? And let me go, get your slimy hands off of me! If you think for one minute that I'm going to—"

Draco's eyes sparkled in amusement and he finally let out a genuine laugh as he pulled her closer, reaching a hand up and reverently running his fingers through her long black hair.

"Silly Gryffindor girl…You still don't get it do you…? Have you _never _heard of the Pigtail theory?"

Harry blinked at him with an expression that made it seem as though she doubted his sanity.

"The _WHAT?"_

Draco smirked again and he gently tilted her chin up so that she was staring up into his handsome features, smiling when he saw that the Gryffindor was blushing profusely at his actions.

"It's quite simple, Harry…" His voice trailed off for a moment as his hand tightened even more around her waist and he pulled her closer, pressing their bodies together very heatedly. Harry would have blushed even more at this but she doubted if she had any more blood to rush into her cheeks.

Draco continued anyway, leaning down and tracing his lips lingeringly along her cheek.

"Boy meets girl…Girl meets boy…Boy bullies girl for fun…Boy likes to yank on girl's pigtails…Girl cries…Girl grows up…Boy continues to pick on her…Boy grows up…Sees girl for the first time…boy _falls in love._" Draco paused just as he heard her breath hitch in her throat and leaned down again so that his lips were brushing against her ear. "Shall I clarify it further for you, Potter…?"

Harry shivered at the contact of his lips against her skin and she closed her eyes, unknowingly leaning back against him as he leaned down and began kissing the skin along her neck. "Y—you have a very strange way of showing your feelings, Malfoy…Why couldn't you have just told me then…?"

Upon hearing her words, Draco paused in the middle of nipping along the skin of her neck and smirked to himself, pulling back slightly so he could look at her exasperated expression. Harry was blushing as she looked up at him, her arms linking around his neck and her eyes meeting his own.

For a minute, Draco thought about the proper response he could say and he stared at her, his soft gaze inadvertently traveling back to her long, black hair. Then, a light, amused smile lighting his lips, Draco finally leaned down and buried his face into her hair, taking in a whiff of that sweet scent.

When she looked as though she was going to ask again, he pulled away and finally smirked at her, reaching down and gently tilting her face up once more so that their lips were mere inches away.

"Because boys will be boys…And I thought you'd have figured it out by now."

Harry's breath had hitched into her throat as Draco brought his lips even closer to hers.

"F—figured…_what _out by now…?"

One corner of the Slytherin's lips quirked upwards at her breathless whisper and he leaned in even closer towards her, their lips ghosting each others just on the very verge of touching altogether.

"That…Boys always pulled on the hair of the girls they liked…"

Hearing his words, Harry's face was now almost as red as the Gryffindor scarf she wore.

"I want you, Potter."

With that, even before she could muster up the thoughts to say anything, Draco had leaned forward and claimed her lips with possessive vengeance, his arms going to wrap very tightly around her small waist. Unable to do anything else except melt against him, Harry's eyes fluttered close and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing closer against him and opening her mouth to his.

"Mmmm…"

He heard her moan within their intertwined lips and inwardly smiled to himself as he slowly but reluctantly pulled away so he could lean in closer again and whisper something into her ear.

"Go to the ball with me."

It wasn't a question but a statement. A _command_ even and Harry knew that. But even then, she couldn't help smiling at his self-assurance and rolled her eyes, helplessly pressing herself closer against him. After all, she couldn't really do anything else at this point but accept now could she?

"Okay."

Draco smirked at her and answered her with a single nod of approval.

"Good."

As he leaned down and possessively claimed her lips with his once more, Draco took that opportunity to entangle his fingers in her hair and tugged lightly, inwardly smiling to himself as he did.

_Mine._

That was the last coherent thought in his head before his hormone-muddled mind clouded over entirely and he closed his eyes, wrapping his arms tighter around her and deepening the kiss.

* * *

**Seventh Year – DADA Classroom**

_She wears her hair down every day now…Damn, she's so annoyingly beautiful. _

Draco was unable to keep himself from smiling as he watched Harriet Potter that morning, admiring the patch of skin along her nape and the beautiful bright green of her eyes. Flicking her eyes back up to the front of the room to listen to the teacher, she reached up and brushed her hair back from her face, rewarding Draco – who was still seated behind her – with a whiff of her hair's scent.

_And she's mine._

Closing his eyes, he relished in the sweet smell briefly before he opened them again and smirked to himself, reaching a hand out and entangling his fingers in the black strands. Then, with a wide, mischievous smirk, he yanked lightly, causing her to screech and whirl around to glare at him.

"_What is it now, Malfoy?" _

Draco smirk instantly dissolved into a teasing grin as he looked at her, giving his incredibly beautiful and delightfully irritated girlfriend a handsome smile and wink.

"Give me a kiss, Potter."

It was another command – one that she was only happy to oblige him each time.

Rolling her eyes and yet, hiding an affectionate smile, Harry could only blush to herself before she chuckled helplessly and did exactly that – leaning forward and pressing her lips against his in a brief but chaste kiss. Once she had pulled back and had turned around once more to listen to the lecture again, Draco grinned to himself like a fool in love and leaned forward to whisper into her ear.

"You should really try wearing those pigtails again, Potter."

* * *

**A/N: **I have no idea where this little piece came from. I saw these two cute kids in the mall one day and the little boy kept tugging on the girl's pigtails. I immediately thought of Draco and Harry. Haha! Just so you'd all know. Hope you all enjoyed that! **PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! CHEERS! :D**


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